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No consensus yet.
All Critics (13) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (13) | Rotten (0) | DVD (1)
Ossessione, which also began the late Mr. Visconti's remarkable film career, may be slow-going to the uninitiated, but its historical importance is not to be denied. May 20, 2003 | Rating: 4/5
Ossessione, which also began the late Mr. Visconti's remarkable film career, may be slow-going to the uninitiated, but its historical importance is not to be denied.
Vincent Canby
The film holds up well today, both as a murder story and as a slice-of-life. Dec 12, 2002
The film holds up well today, both as a murder story and as a slice-of-life.
Noel Murray
Luchino Visconti's first solo effort and the first great Italian neorealist film. Dec 10, 2002 | Full Review…
Luchino Visconti's first solo effort and the first great Italian neorealist film.
Don Druker
A landmark film in both Neo-Realist and giallo traditions, the legacy of Ossessione lives and breathes in every frame. Aug 27, 2018 | Full Review…
A landmark film in both Neo-Realist and giallo traditions, the legacy of Ossessione lives and breathes in every frame.
Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
The raw warm poetry of Ossessione has nothing to do with neo-realism; the film is unencumbered by ideology and political commitment. Apr 10, 2018 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
The raw warm poetry of Ossessione has nothing to do with neo-realism; the film is unencumbered by ideology and political commitment.
Elliott Stein
Ossessione is the fully achieved work of a matured artist, and in the last analysis it heralds nothing but the oracular career of one of the very greatest of the elect in that still small clutch of film masters. Dec 12, 2017 | Full Review…
Ossessione is the fully achieved work of a matured artist, and in the last analysis it heralds nothing but the oracular career of one of the very greatest of the elect in that still small clutch of film masters.
James McCourt
The hardboiled appetites of The Postman Always Rings Twice brushing against European anguish Apr 7, 2014 | Full Review…
The hardboiled appetites of The Postman Always Rings Twice brushing against European anguish
Fernando F. Croce
In something beyond drama and melodrama, diluted American mythos makes for Euro cine refined. Feb 13, 2009 | Rating: 7.5/10 | Full Review…
In something beyond drama and melodrama, diluted American mythos makes for Euro cine refined.
Matthew Sorrento
Immerses the story in the reality of life in an Italian village, using simplicity and poverty as driving forces. Sep 27, 2004 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…
Immerses the story in the reality of life in an Italian village, using simplicity and poverty as driving forces.
Jeffrey M. Anderson
The first feature film directed by Luchino Visconti is a beaut and holds up well today as a slice-of-life drama. Nov 30, 2003 | Rating: A- | Full Review…
The first feature film directed by Luchino Visconti is a beaut and holds up well today as a slice-of-life drama.
Dennis Schwartz
Visconti's directoral debut is a cinematic milestone both in noir and neo-realism. Brilliant adaptation of The Postman Always Rings Twice, depicting the descent of two lonely souls into lust, avarice, and desperation. The use of light and shadow emphasize the character development. The finale is one of the most ironic scenes in film history (omitted from the american versions).
Super Reviewer
Massimo Girotti is the handsome young drifter who falls for the beautiful wife (Clara Calamai) of a roadside restauranteur. Through a progression of lust, adultery, envy and obsession we witness the spiraling decline of morality and the untimely death of one unsuspecting husband. Viewed with an 'American eye', Ossessione seems a bit long-winded and meandering but Visconti's telling is nothing short of remarkable. The director's command of light and camera angles enables him to set a dark mood that is as much a tangible presence as any of the film's characters. A tragic tale masterfully told.
Wow, made in Italy in 1943, smack in the middle of WWII - this movie is fiendishly great - sucks you right in. Also, was this Massimo Girotti fellow ever on a Smiths cover? Cuz he freakin should have been. Great exterior street scene shots - w/ wonderful fluid camera movement.
this italian adaptation of the postman always rings twice predates both the american version and double indemnity. i have to say i think i prefer it to the turner/garfield film and it doesn't hurt that massimo girotti looks like a young paul newman :) visconti's first film is a near masterpiece
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